The International Superstar Soccer series developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka (AKA KCEO) has been ongoing in one form or another for some time. Many US gamers were introduced to the series with International Superstar Soccer for N64, which was followed up by ISS99. The games featured very realistic soccer with fantastic control, loads of options, excellent graphics… N64 owners who have missed out on these games: go get 'em!

It was revealed in a CVG interview with that we can definitely expect an ISS game for Game Cube. This was confirmed when Katsuya Nagae, Executive Vice President and General Manager of KCEO, announced plans for the game. "We haven't received any development tool yet, but [there are plans to bring ISSto Gamecube] because this is one of the strongest titles for Konami KCEO. So we will definitely have ISS for Gamecube."

Nagae wasn't the only one to speak on the matter either…

"As far as the marketing side, football appeals to the all wide range of player - from kids to the high end (adults). Even though the Nintendo Cube is designed for kids we can approach the general players (a wider audience). If we go for the high end audience, like Metal Gear Solid, it might be difficult to market. But Nintendo Cube could be a good tool to spread out the ISS product to a wider range of players," proclaimed Mr Yasuo Okuda, Deputy General Manager of KCEO and Producer of ISS on PlayStation 2.

It sounds like Nintendo haven't completely shed the "kiddy" image. C'mon Konami, we'd love Metal Gear on Game Cube too! However, let's not sound like ingrates. The news of ISS for GC is very welcome indeed.

All of the ISS on N64 were 1-4 player, so it's safe to assume the Game Cube incarnation will be also be at least four player. Is it too much to hope for online play? Regardless, graphics and gameplay should be excellent. Seeing as KCEO have only announced the desire to do the game, ISS is still awhile off. Let's hope that Nintendo gets them the tools soon!